Political forces at a glance

Germany is a federal democracy, with major powers delegated to the 16 states (Länder). In March 2018 the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) reformed their grand coalition following a difficult and protracted coalition-building process. The bicameral parlia‑ment comprises the Bundestag (the lower house of parliament), whose members are elected on a system of modified proportional representation, and the Bundesrat (the upper house), which consists of representatives of the 16 state govern‑ments. The coalition has a majority in the Bundestag but not in the Bundesrat.

Bundestag election results

% share of vote

No. of seats

2002

2005

2009

2013

2017

2017

Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social
Union (CSU)

38.5

35.2

33.8

41.5

32.9

246

Social Democratic Party (SPD)

38.5

34.2

23.0

25.7

20.5

153

Left Partya

4.0

8.7

11.9

8.6

9.2

69

Greens/Alliance 90

8.6

8.1

10.7

8.4

8.9

67

Free Democratic Party (FDP)

7.4

9.8

14.6

4.8

10.7

80

Alternative for Germany (AfD)

—

—

—

4.7

12.6

94

Others

3.0

4.0

6.0

6.3

5.0

0

Total

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

709

a Before the 2005
election, the Party of Democratic Socialist (PDS) merged with a new group, the
Election Alliance for Jobs and Social Justice (WASG). The joint party was named
the Left Party. Before 2005 the results relate to the PDS alone.